1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector set which permits an electro-luminescent lighting element to be combined with a wall-mounted switch plate, electrical outlet cover, and similar devices such as a coaxial or CATV cable outlet cover plate, an antenna connection cover plate, a timer set housing, or a keyboard of a security system in order to provide nighttime illumination for convenience or decorative purposes.
In general, the types of "covers" with which the present invention is concerned are covers which surround an electrical outlet, switch, or user interface so as to prevent a user of the outlet, switch, or user interface from touching the electrical connections to the outlet, switch, or user interface and also to hide the electrical connections. Such covers are often referred to as cover plates or fascia boards, although the shape may vary from that of a true plate or board.
The key characteristics of the covers in question are that they surround the connector, switch, or user interface, that they have a front and rear side, the front side being visible to a user of the connector, switch, or user interface, and that accessible at the back or rear side of the cover, though not necessarily in the immediate vicinity, are electrical connections that can be used to provide power to the electro-luminescent lighting arrangement of the invention.
Several examples of covers are described below, but it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the types of covers illustrated, so long as the covers have the key characteristics noted above.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/910,202, filed Aug. 13, 1997, which is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/383,404, filed Feb. 3, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,394 discloses an electro-luminescent night light which uses an especially simple and reliable cover arrangement. The present invention applies the principles disclosed in the parent application, and also in its parent application, to a cover arrangement of the type described above, i.e., one which surrounds a connector, switch, or user interface in order to prevent users of the connector, switch, or electrical interface from viewing or contacting the electrical connections behind the cover, by adapting the connector set described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/910,202 and 08/383,404 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,394) to an arrangement in which multiple electro-luminescent elements are situated in a groove on the cover and connected by common conductive members extending through an opening in the rear of the cover.
It has previously been proposed to add electro-luminescent lighting elements to covers of the type described above, but the electro-luminescent elements normally have used a very complicated connection arrangement, generally involving some type of rivet for electrically connecting the electro-luminescent element to conductive wires. Such connections require a large number of components, a significant amount of labor, and are not reliable. In addition, the connections are not well-sealed, and can expose children and others to electrical shock by permitting objects such as sharp nails to come into contact with conductors.
On the other hand, the night light disclosed in parent application Ser. No. 08/910,202 is simple to manufacture and is capable of providing a variety of lighting effects. This is achieved by using resilient non-penetrative connector members sandwiched against electrodes of the electro-luminescent elements, but whereas the night light sandwiches the conductive members between electrodes on the electro-luminescent element and prongs of a standard electrical plug, the present invention permits the electro-luminescent elements to be connected to any type of wires rather than just to prongs of a standard electrical plug, by sandwiching the conductive members between the electrodes and a pressing member, with the conductive members in one preferred embodiment of the invention being in the form of cylinders into which leads are inserted in order to complete the electrical connection. In addition, rather than using a single electro-luminescent element and a single conductive member for each of the electrodes of the electro-luminescent element, as disclosed in the parent application, each conductive member of the present invention is arranged to provide electrical connections to the electrodes of a pair of electro-luminescent elements, the use of multiple electro-luminescent elements rather than a single element saving costs by permitting the switch, outlet, or interface to which the cover is applied to be framed by the electro-luminescent elements using simple shapes and smaller elements.
Like the parent application, the present invention utilizes commercially available or previously proposed types of electro-luminescent lighting elements such as the electro-luminescent panels having discrete phosphor coatings disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,817, and in copending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/729,408 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,337), 08/734,872 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,508), and 08/746,706 (pending), each of which is incorporated by reference herein, as well as the three-dimensional electro-luminescent tube arrangement disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/758,393, which is also incorporated by reference herein. The night lights of the present invention may also be used with the optical effects device disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/841,624 (pending), also incorporated herein by reference, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/489,160 (abandoned).
It is noted that similar arrangements are also disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/925,122, filed Sep. 8, 1997, entitled "Electro-Luminescent Night Light Arrangements," the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, including the discussion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,408, which discloses a night light including a non-penetrative connector set and electro-luminescent element, but does not utilize conductive members sandwiched between electrodes of the electro-luminescent element and the power supply conductors, as in the parent application, or multiple electro-luminescent elements and connector members of the type described in the present application.